Colleges and universities on the High Plains are bracing for upcoming battles as lawmakers move to begin taxing the value of student tuition.
As The Houston Chronicle reports, Republicans in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are proposing overhauls to the Higher Education Act. One provision in the House’s version of the new tax bill would tax tuition waivers, which universities use to make graduate student tuition more affordable.
This measure would gut the regular stipends that grad students use to pay their rent and buy food. Many higher-education advocates on the High Plains are particularly worried, as states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas have GOP-dominated legislatures. Thus lawmakers in those states would likely support the national legislation.
